One Step Too Far
by AerinStrifeVII
Summary: When Nezumi and Shion get into another argument, things get out of hand. When Shion goes missing soon after, will Nezumi be able to make amends before it's too late? Rated for mild language. UPDATED AND COMPLETED!
1. Flight of the Weak

**One Step Too Far**

_**When Nezumi and Shion get into another argument, things get out of hand. When Shion goes missing soon after, will Nezumi be able to make amends before it's too late?**_

The moment the words flew out of Nezumi's mouth, he wanted to take them back. He had said harsh, cruel things to Shion before, but the expression on the naïve boy's face immediately told him he had gone too far.

Before Nezumi had a chance to atone for his mistake, Shion had lunged. Normally, Nezumi would easily overpower the white-haired boy but this time, he let Shion shove him back into the bookcase, toppling it and covering him in an avalanche of books. Nezumi could hear his mice screeching as they scurried away for cover.

"Dammit," Nezumi muttered, fighting his way out of the suffocating mass of moldy, worn texts. He was assaulted by a cold wind and he looked up, startled.

The door was flung wide open, letting in the icy breeze. Shion was nowhere in sight.

Nezumi hesitated. Should he go after him?

'_Nah, he'll probably come back in a couple of hours, sniveling and half-frozen to death._' He thought, shoving the door closed.

A dark voice echoed in the back of his mind. '_Or will he?_'

Nezumi shook his head. "He'll be fine." He said aloud. Beside him, his mice squeaked plaintively.

He waited. After heating a pot of soup and reorganizing the toppled shelves and books, he settled down on the couch to read.

A white mouse bounded up onto his knee, eying him with its grape-colored eyes and squeaking for his attention.

"Are you… Cravat?" Nezumi asked the rodent. It shook its head. Apparently not.

"Hamlet, then." He tried again.

"Squeak."

"Stupid Shion, now it's even more confusing…"

Nezumi returned to his book. After another act of _Macbeth_, Hamlet the mouse chirruped at him again.

"What is it?"

Hamlet leapt over to the door and Nezumi shook his head. '_Even my mice miss him. Damn._'

"He'll be back. Just give him some time."

Hamlet just gave him a hard glare before disappearing into the darkness.

Nezumi resisted the urge to sigh in exasperation. '_It's been a few hours since nightfall. He should be back my now._' After staring at another page of Macbeth, he stood up, irritated.

'_At least I can use my shower and bed freely. Now I don't have to answer his annoying questions and I don't have to babysit him anymore. I'll be able to return to how things were before._' Nezumi thought to himself.

'_But would you _want_ to return to the way things were_?' The dark voice asked.

Nezumi turned back to the room he had learned to call 'home'. It had a certain coldness to it—a loneliness. No, he wouldn't be able to return to the emptiness.

"Dammit, Shion…" Nezumi wrenched the door open and raced out into the blizzard, pulling out his switchblade.


	2. Against the Cold

**Chapter 2**

It was so cold.

How long had it been? Twenty minutes? An hour? Shion had lost track of time. All he knew was that he couldn't get up.

'_Nezumi won't come looking for me._' He thought. '_I'm just a burden to him anyways. Now I've gotten myself into trouble…_' Shion tried lifting his numb arms and legs, feeling only a slight twinge of pain from where he had fallen.

'_I haven't broken anything._' He noted. '_But I've injured my back._'

He tried turning his head and looking around at his surroundings, but all he could see was a white expanse. He had been running blindly when he had left and now had no idea where he was.

'_Great, so even if I _could_ get up, I would still be lost. Nezumi would be laughing if he saw me now…_'

There was a low growl that caught Shion's attention. He turned his head gingerly to the left, coming face-to-face with a massive, hungry-looking wolf.

"Ah," Shion flinched as the wolf bared its fangs. "N-no…"

The panic Shion should have been feeling was muted and he realized that his mind was starting to shut down from the frigid cold. His eyelids were so _heavy…_

"Stay awake. Don't close your eyes!"

Nezumi…

_"Don't close your eyes, Shion!"_

Nezumi's words echoed in his head.

'_Oh, would you stop yelling at me already? You'd probably be glad if I died. Then I wouldn't be such a burden to you._' Shion's wistful thoughts inched sluggishly through his mind and he closed his eyes.

"That's not true."

Huh? Nezumi had never said _that_ in his memories…

There was a loud snarl and Shion struggled to open his eyes. His vision was blurred, but there was a huge shadow hovering over him.

'_Oh, looks like this is it…_' Shion shut his eyes again and prepared to meet the wolf's fangs.

"I'm sorry, Nezumi…" He murmured.

A strange warmth enveloped him, and he felt no more.

* * *

"Shion." Nezumi deposited the dead wolf a few yards away, flicking the blood of his blade and tucking it back into his pocket. He had arrived in time to see the wolf placing a heavy paw on Shion's arm. When Shion did nothing to push it away or even struggle against it, Nezumi knew something was horribly wrong.

"Hey," Nezumi's breath caught in his throat. Shion was unnaturally pale, and his eyes were closed.

"I'm sorry, Nezumi." Shion's lips were blue, and they were barely moving.

"Shion, stay with me!" Nezumi grabbed Shion in his arms, shaking him gently. When Shion didn't wake up, he gritted his teeth, feeling guilt and fear grip his heart.

Nezumi lifted Shion roughly. "C'mon… I'm not about to let all the trouble I've gone through go to waste!"


	3. The Arguement

**Chapter 3**

Shion wasn't waking up. Nezumi did everything he could-changed Shion's wet, snow-covered clothes into dry, warm ones, put the unresponsive boy in front of the old heater, and covered him in all the blankets he could find-but Shion still hadn't recovered.

Nezumi's hands were shaking. Maybe he had been too late. He placed a hand on Shion's forehead, brushing back his snowy white hair. His skin was cold.

"Don't tell me I've lost him…" Nezumi felt something warm on his face. It took a moment for him to realize that they were tears.

He blinked, startled, and a tear dropped onto Shion's face.

Damn. This was the second time Shion had reduced the unbreakable, emotionless Nezumi to tears—The second time the strange boy from No.6 had opened the well in Nezumi's cold heart.

'I'm sorry, Nezumi.' Was that what Shion had whispered? Sorry? Sorry for what?

Nezumi recalled the argument that had started it all:

_"You're useless." He had been reprimanding Shion again, for some insignificant reason he couldn't remember._

_"No, not anymore." Shion replied._

_"Oh, really? What—may I ask—has changed, Your Highness?" Nezumi mocked, bowing slightly to his companion._

_"I can do things on my own now. I've gotten a job from Inukashi and I've even managed to clean this dump up." Shion looked far too proud of himself._

_'_What's that look for? Arrogant little airhead._' Nezumi thought. "You're powerless. Stop trying to think you can do anything."_

_"That's not fair," Shion protested. "I've done the best I can with the little time I've been given."_

_"And yet you wouldn't be a match for a child outside this door, without me to guard your back and pick your battles." Nezumi shot back._

_"Why would I want to be?" Shion retorted, starting to raise his voice. "I wouldn't ever want to hurt a child!"_

_"Ha!" Nezumi laughed wickedly, his voice dropping in contrast to Shion's. "It's that naïve idealism that will get you killed!"_

_"Well, that 'naïve idealism' saved _your_ life four years ago!"_

_Nezumi's hand clenched into fists. That one had hit home._

_Before he could even think about what he was doing, the stinging words had already left his mouth in a rush: "And I've saved _you_ countless times in return! Face it: You're just a burden and you won't be able to save anyone! Not No.6 or West Block… Hell, you're not even going to be able to save your mother or that girl, Safu-"_

_He could still feel Shion's hands grab painfully at his shoulders, throwing him backwards._

Nezumi sniffed. "Idiot, what are _you_ apologizing for?"

Beneath his trembling hand, Shion stirred weakly. Nezumi—so caught up in this thoughts—didn't notice it.

"Stupid Shion… I'm the one who should be saying 'sorry'…"


	4. Back to the Start

**Chapter 4**

Shion blinked his eyes open, slowly taking in the familiar surroundings of Nezumi's little hideout. '_Back… I'm back here again?_' He turned his head to the left and immediately regretted it—the heater was radiating so much heat that it seared his cheeks and made his eyes water.

On his right, Nezumi was perched on the couch, his knees pulled up to his chest and a book—_Macbeth_, of course—in front of his face. The mice were sitting beside him, chittering amongst themselves.

"Nezumi?"

"Hn," The dark-haired teen didn't look up from his book.

"Nezumi."

Nezumi pursed his lips, closing _Macbeth_ and setting the book down with a deliberate slowness on the table. After giving Hamlet a good scratch behind the ears—all the while being very aware of Shion's eyes following his every movement—he finally turned his attention to the boy. "What is it, Your Majesty?"

"Am I… dead?"

Nezumi gave Shion a strange look before chuckling. "Stupid Shion…"

"H-hey," The white-haired boy struggled into a sitting position. "That's not… I just thought…"

Nezumi was at his side in an instant. "Careful," He murmured, tipping Shion's chin up with a finger.

Shion did his best to stare down the emotionless teen sitting in front of him, but eventually had to look away. "What about the wolf…?"

"Dead." Nezumi answered simply. When Shion gave him a dubious glare, Nezumi added, "Well, I wasn't about to let that thing eat you, if that's what you were thinking."

Shion hung his head, ashamed of himself. He muttered a response that Nezumi didn't catch.

"Pardon?"

"I'm sorry."

Nezumi sat back, his expression unreadable. After a long silence, Shion frowned.

"Nezumi, what's wrong?"

"…Nothing."

''_Nothing?' What, no lecture, no knife to the throat?_' Shion folded his arms, choosing his next words carefully. "You were worried?"

Not a statement. A question. Nezumi shrugged. "How could I not be, with you being so helpless?"

There it was again: answering a sincere question with a blatant insult. Shion was a little annoyed, but he chose to make an observation instead. "Your eyes are red."

Nezumi's gaze flashed to meet his and for a split second, Shion saw all the worry, sadness, guilt, anger, and fear hidden behind the dark-haired boy's thoughtfully crafted façade. Nezumi was an actor—in both real life and on stage. But in that one moment…

Nezumi sniffed as he stood. "What an idiot…"

Shion watched as Nezumi crossed the room in a couple of strides before pausing outside his bedroom door.

"There's soup on the table." Nezumi's voice was steady. "You should eat."

And he was gone.

As the door slammed shut, the white-haired boy sighed and turned to his soup. "Nezumi," He raised his voice, knowing he would be able to hear him. "Thank you…"

Of course, there was no answer.

**Thanks for reading! Reviews and comments are very much appreciated! Also, I want to thank winry104 for reading the fic while it was in its first stages. Love ya, girl! ;D  
**


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